BROWNING BR-180 Amateur Dual-Band Mobile Antenna

This is the first antenna I've added to my VX-8DR aside from the rubber ducky it came with. I went from hit and miss signals in my area to being able to consistently pick up our local 2m repeaters and IRLP nodes. Signal strength has increased significantly, and I'm now receiving signals clearly that I previously could not get at all. Transmission is also great, and I can hit the repeater approx 20 miles away where before I was missing contacts entirely.I'm very happy with this, and it has paired nicely with the BROWNING BR316 NMO 3.5-Inch Chrome Magnet Mount and it has held strong. The antenna is a little tall to mount on the roof (due to the height of my garage) so I mount it on the trunk, which works out nicely. The antenna withstands highway speeds nicely, and is flexible enough to bounce back from minor smacks. And since this is separate from the mount, I don't have to buy a completely separate system to switch over to 6m.To connect this easily to the VX-8DR without straining the (somewhat fragile) SMA connector, I purchased an SMA-male to BNC-female 20" lead, and a BNC-female to PL-259-male adaptor. This is a great way to quickly connect/disconnect the HT to the antenna, and has no noticeable impact on either 2m or 70cm bands (BNC has some band limitations when getting to higher frequencies, but it's not an issue on these bands).Overall, I definitely recommend this antenna, even for those very new to the scene. It is a great addition, even for a HT, and will allow for much greater performance than your typical stock antenna can provide.

Like all radio operators, I'm always on the lookout for that perfect dual band mobile antenna. Proper operators know they are compromised but we still search. I came across this one and seeing the frequencies advertised with the DB gain, it looked nice. I've used quite a bit of Tram Browning products and they have never disappointed but the folks saying this worked on GMRS as well, caught my attention. Finally, after weeks of looking at it I bought one because, apparently, I'm weak. So, after it arrived and I spent some time straightening it back out (thanks USPS, eyeroll) I did a quick bench test. On the advertised frequencies this thing is a hammer and tested well. So I pushed it to GMRS and started getting over 3. That's what I figured would happened. I was about to stick it in a corner with the rest of my unused antennas (did I mention I have way to many antennas I don't use?) when I got the idea to mount it to my truck. I have a 2017 Silverado and my NMO mount is on the drivers fender. I normally run a Browning BR-176-s, a great GMRS 5/8 wave antenna for use with family communications and don't worry with much else. So, I installed the BR-180 and started testing frequencies.With a proper mount and ground plane, this antenna is surprising wide banded. Yeah, I know the math doesn't work but all the way up to 462.XXX, I never got above a 1.8:1. I was perplexed but then I went to 467.xxx and the SWR actually came down. What tha'?I came back into the house, disassembeled the antenna as much as possible, put copper antiseize on all metal connection points to be sure there is good connection, put thread locker on the screws and torqued it all back together. I'm going to run it awhile and see how she works. I doubt it will work on GMRS as well as a dedicated GMRS antenna but maybe it will be good enough I can set it and forget it.8-17-19. Pulled it. As expected it’s horrible on GMRS. I guess it turns into a dummy load or something but I could barely hit my repeater from 2 miles. For comparison, with a BR-450 using a 10w ht as a mobile, I can simplex for 18 miles. Use this antenna for the frequencies advertised.

This is supposedly tuned by the factory. I had to question that as all of the sections were assembled in fully. So I connected the antenna analyzer. I found SWR to be a little higher than I would like, approaching 2:1 at some frequencies but not too bad at others, around 1.5:1. To be fair, getting dual band with low SWR across wide bandwidth is not a simple task. I expect some peaks and valleys on 70cm but would hope 2m would be reasonably flat since it's only a few MHz wide. I played around with it a little and could get SWR down much lower but only in small bandwidth while the rest of the bands increased. It fit perfectly on the mount. It appears durable and has performed quite well for over 1 year. It may not have the best corrosion resistance. I would recommend this item to others without much hesitation.

Straight out of the box, the antenna requires no tuning on the 2m and 70cm bands. SWR on VHF is 1.12. UHF is 1.25.GMRS frequencies... SWR on 462.000 Mhz was 4.7. At 467.000 Mhz the SWR was 6.3 with an impedance of 125 ohms. I was able to achieve an SWR of 2.0 at 462.000 Mhz and 2.1 at 467.000 Mhz. The impedance at 462.000 Mhz was 52 ohms at 467.000 Mhs it was 81 Ohms. A bit on the high end, but usable.I began my modification with a 15"whip. The best results reflected on the antenna analyzer were achieved when the whip was slowly (1/8" at a time) trimmed to 8-7/8" longer than the original whip.I had time on my hands and a spare BR180 to play with. I will install it on my OHV strictly for use with GMRS. However, if you're looking for a dedicated GMRS antenna without having to modify it, this probably isn't your best solution.

This antenna worked excellent for a few months and then all of a sudden it quit ....an ohms meter was used to test and found that there was no continuity in the bottom section where I believe there is a coil The top coil was fine...Its to late to return and I am totally disapointed as i spent a good amount for this ...I had to go out and buy a new one that cost me 50.00 I would never buy from this seller again IF i could give it a NO STAR I would....

Super performance. Great product.

What a well made product! All stainless steel and loading coil performs well. A really pleasant surprise for such a reasonably priced for a 2 band antenna ! This is a great product for my Ham friends! The gains on this unit are good as are the matches on frequencies.. VE7AD

It's been on my pick up for some time now and is performing well !

Antenna not quite up to expectations. Have had Diamond units that performed a bit better, were more sturdy. It meets my current needs.

good performer and well constructed